When the Trees Sway, the Heart Stirs
나무가 흔들릴 때 마음이 찾아온다- KOREA / 2025 / Korean / Color / DCP / 40 min
Director, Photography, Editing: Lee Jiyoon
Photography: Kwon Namin, Kim Namu, Kim Sungwon, Lee Hyunji
Producer: Kwon Namin
Appearances: Lim Hakgyu, Ji Chunsam, Kwon Kyungja, Quak Wonhwee
Source: Lee Jiyoon
Residents have begun moving out of Seoul’s Jeongneung Valley ahead of its redevelopment. Home gardens lovingly cultivated over the years, and buildings repeatedly expanded and repaired, will soon vanish—along with the entire neighborhood—as if they had never existed. Who will live in the newly constructed luxury residential area? The director casts her gaze downward to the unremarkable scenes imprinted with traces of everyday life, encountering both those still living there and those who once called it home. Narratives of resignation, regret, and memory unfold, marked by a delicate sensitivity to quiet emotion. (OM)
[Director’s Statement] This work documents the daily lives and village of Jeongneung residents after plans for redevelopment were announced in August 2024. It aims to discover where body and mind reside amid change, and to find everyday life not reduced by the logic of capital.
Lee JiyoonKorean filmmaker, whose work includes The Letter of Blank (2023, selected for the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival). This film screened at the Jaipur International Film Festival and at DMZ.